In my thoughts, the perfect searching gear shouldn’t be ultra-specialized gear. I favor package that may deal with a variety of eventualities—and if it additionally fills some area of interest roles completely, all the higher! And after searching this fall with the Sitka Device Bucket, that’s what I say this daypack has to supply: It’s well-suited to the wants of most deer hunters, however for those who’re a run-and-gunner, specializing in saddle searching, it’s good to your area of interest wants.
The Sitka Device Bucket design
The identify appears like Sitka possibly took a 5-gallon pail and added a coat of camo and backpack straps, however this daypack is pretty customary in its format—no less than, it seems like that in the first place look. A bag, with straps and pockets. Nothing too totally different. There are 17 storage compartments in complete; inside capability is 1800 cubic inches, and the pack weighs just below 55 ounces.
Look nearer, and also you’ll see the pack’s lid is stored closed by a toggle by means of a gap by means of the highest of the pack. Straightforward and fast to open, arduous to interrupt… and when the pack is open, you may hold it from that gap. And when it’s hanging, you’re taking one other look, and hey—undo a few zippers, and your backpack has changed into a bucket, type of, with an entire bunch of organizer pockets retaining your gear good and tidy.
This may be a pleasant function for those who’re climbing mountains for elk or busting brush and searching for moose, but it surely’s not a game-changer. Numerous packs have pockets. However for those who’re a cell treestand or saddle searching specialist? That is very fascinating, as a result of the Sitka Device Bucket permits you to entry gear shortly, for those who hold it subsequent to you in a tree, with out requiring that you just rummage by means of a stuffed pocket or pack so as to seize a material to scrub your scope, or to seek out your backup grunt tube, or a snack—no matter gear you want on that all-day sit. It’s like including a shelf to your cell searching setup.
My expertise with the Device Bucket
I spent quite a lot of time utilizing the Device Bucket this deer season, however I wasn’t searching out of treestands or cell setups for very lengthy—most of this 12 months’s whitetail setups have been based mostly on floor blinds. However once I was within the bushes, the Device Bucket was a really useful group device. Even within the darkness of a tent blind, I appreciated the Device Bucket’s submitting system, to talk—cartridges in a single pocket, skinning knife in one other, licenses filed away in a Ziploc baggie in a pocket within the prime of the pack, and so forth.
The Device Bucket’s wide-mouth design makes it straightforward to stuff bigger objects like a heat jacket into the inside to your hike into the stand or blind, too. I’ll typically deliver some additional garments or possibly a woobie blanket for these chilly late-November sits, sporting much less clothes for the hike in so I don’t overheat. The Device Bucket’s design works nicely for this, as the interior organizers maintain all of your tools in-place so it doesn’t come spilling out while you take away your hotter clothes. That’s a Very Unhealthy Factor while you’re in a tree saddle 20 ft within the air.
Together with time in a blind or up in a treestand, I additionally used the Device Bucket on strolling/stalking hunts this 12 months. I discovered the pack was principally very, excellent on this position, though you need to notice its limitations.
It is a frameless pack with out the flexibility to detach the pack from a body, like the unique Device Bucket had (they modified the design round 2020). You may nonetheless connect a stand to the pack’s exterior to haul it, however you may’t slide the stand between the pack and the body like the unique Device Bucket. With that in thoughts, saddle hunters with their streamlined tools might just like the Device Bucket greater than treestand customers. However pack fastidiously; the pack’s design doesn’t shut the lid tightly, so for those who flip it the wrong way up while you’re up in a tree, you may need to return to the bottom to retrieve one thing that fell out, for those who didn’t stuff it tightly contained in the bag.
As nicely, for those who’re stillhunting, the Device Bucket could be very streamlined and tidy, and doesn’t simply catch on issues while you’re sneaking by means of the woods. It strikes together with your physique (which can also be good while you’re using an ATV into your searching spot). But when a department or brush scratches the facet of the Device Bucket, the artificial materials makes unnatural noises, which could scare off some sport. I don’t actually maintain this in opposition to the pack; you’d have to purchase a wool pack to keep away from that downside. That’s fairly hard-to-find package, and I’ve by no means seen a wool searching pack with options remotely near the Device Bucket’s capabilities.
The underside line
The Sitka Device Bucket confirmed up mid-season, so I solely bought to discover its capabilities for just a few weeks of deer searching, after which some post-season digital camera work blended in with rabbit searching.
I wouldn’t say that is revolutionary or game-changing, but it surely’s a chunk of substances that can make life lots simpler once I’m cell searching, letting me carry precisely what I would like, and storing it for me whereas I’m up within the bushes.
Up to now, the Device Bucket has been a high-quality piece of package and I count on years of service from it, based mostly on the construct high quality. I’d extremely suggest any deer hunter have a look at it, however particularly for those who’re the run-and-gun sort, dealing loss of life from above. The $259 MSRP is in keeping with different high quality packs, and lots of of these don’t supply the identical handy practicality of the Device Bucket. I’d say it’s nicely price testing consequently.
